Slow Motion
by Venti the Vicious
Summary: Post “Hostage”. A night at a bar is always a good night. BrianChristina


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Title: _Slow Motion_

Author: Plead the Fifth

Show: _Conviction_

Summary: Post "Hostage". A night at a bar is always a good night. Part one of a three part collection of drabbles. BrianChristina

A/N: I don't own anything. It all belongs to Dick Wolf, who let it die. Sad. The song is Slow Motion by David Gray, and it's the song played at the end of "Hostage".

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It was a whirlwind of emotion that drove Brian to beg Calvin Wade to let him go talk to the negotiators. All he wanted was for Christina, Jessica, and Nick to get out alive- even if he didn't. He was relentless and finally, Wade gave in. He was allowed to go to the negotiators. When Cabot and Steele laid eyes on him, there was a hint of relief, and at the same time, there was panic. What had happened to the others? Who all had died?

Quickly, he relieved Cabot's worry about her ADAs. Everyone was fine. The only two that had died, save for the officer that died earlier that day, were Congressman Knowles and Jeffers, Besides that, everyone was okay and unhurt. The leader of the SWAT team had come up with a plan and Brian had no choice but to agree. Even as Steele told him he didn't. Time seemed to stand still as the plan unfolded and Brian couldn't seem to let the SWAT team shoot him down. After backing down the court steps and wrestling the gun away from Calvin, the SWAT team apprehended him and took him into custody. The next thing he knew, Christina was in his arms, trying to hold back tears.

When everyone had hugged one another and Steele had made it clear that he was so grateful that no one had been sacrificed, Cabot suggested they go to a bar only a little ways from the court house. All had agreed, and Jessica even made a comment about how after a night like this, she'd either be drinking with her friends, or she'd be drinking out of the bottle on her couch. Christina, Jessica, and Alex had all forgotten their purses in their office, so all of they all ended up making the trek to see if they had everything that they'd need. When Christina tried to grab case files to take home and work on, both Brian and Alex told her to stop- after that long day, no one needed to take work home with them.

They got to the bar in a reasonable amount of time, Billy proposed an amazing toast, and Steele declared that the round was on him. Once she had her drink, Christina nervously made her way to the barstool next to Brian's and took a seat. "Today was quite the adventure, huh?" she asked softly, watching him chuckle a bit.

"You could definitely say that." he replied and saw all the fear and panic in her eyes. The statement he had made in the court room, professing his love for her, was still fresh in her mind and it was like it was on repeat. When he saw all of that, he motioned for her to stand up, and did the same, enveloping her in a tight embrace. "I meant what I said, Christina." It wasn't often that Brian called her by her full name; it was either Finn or Chris. But calling her Christina meant that he wasn't joking around. Knowing that he was serious about what he was saying, Christina let her arms wrap a little tighter around his neck.

"You know, if this were a movie, I'd have something absolutely amazing to reply to that with, but unfortunately, I'm not that quick on my feet," Christina whispered and Brian only smiled, chuckling lightly. He picked up her drink from the bar and motioned for her to follow him, and they walked away from the group into a small booth in the back of the bar; a two roomed establishment that could be seen as a lawyer bar or a cop bar, depending on the night. That night, it seemed to be a pretty even mix. He recognized both detectives as well as uniforms, and on the other hand there were a generous amount of lawyers that he had either seen around the DA's office or on the opposite side of the room as himself. But who was there didn't really matter because the particular booth they were in was positioned so that you had to be trying to look in to see anything.

"I don't want you to think that I said that for any reason other than wanting you to know the truth in case anything happened back in that courtroom." Brian told her softly as he still had a hold on one of her hands. "And I know that things are going well with that Dr. Lucas guy, so if you want to still be with him, don't take this is me trying to give you an ultimatum. I just...I did it for two reasons. I did it to prove to you that I wouldn't have left you alone when I went out to the negotiator. And in case anything happened to me, I didn't want you to not know the truth." Christina was about to say something when Brian stopped her. "I say 'happened to me' because I wouldn't have let anything happen to you."

At that point, the rush of information was still hitting her, and she needed to take a drink to try and process everything. "Actually, you were wrong."

"I was wrong? About what?" Brian asked, obviously confused.

"You were wrong about things going well with Dr. Lucas. We...uh, we broke up."

Now this came as a major surprise to Brian. "When was this?"

"Today. We broke up over lunch. He got a job offer to go to California and work for a huge practice and said that if I wanted to go, that I was more than welcome, but I told him that I would lose too much by leaving and that I couldn't fathom going. So, we broke up, no hard feelings, no hidden mistresses or anything." After explaining, Christina picked up her glass and lifted it to her lips, taking a sip and peering over the top of it to Brian.

"And here I was thinking that my day, overall, was pretty shitty," Brian remarked slyly. "I'm really sorry that you two broke up, Chris."

"No you're not."

"No, I'm not. But you can't blame a guy for trying to be sympathetic. Isn't that what chicks like?"

"Chicks might, but personally, I don't particularly like it." Chris answered and Brian smirked. He should have known that Christina would _not _follow a cliche. It just wasn't her.

"I'll keep that in mind," he replied and looked around the bar. "I can tell you right now that the food in this place sucks. Why don't we go and grab something to eat, just the two of us?" Brian was sure to ask cautiously, to which Christina nodded. They left their glasses on the table and went back to where it was only Jessica, Jim, and Billy at the bar.

"What happened to Cabot?" he asked, still keeping a hold on Christina's hand.

"She saw someone she knew, went over to say hi or whatever." Billy answered and kept his eyes glued to the TV, watching commentary on a sports game. Well, more like reading.

"Okay, well, Chris and I are gonna go and get something to eat. We'll see you guys tomorrow." Jim stood up and gave both Christina and Brian a hug, as did Jessica and Billy. Good-byes were quickly exchanged and Brian and Christina made their way out of the bar and onto the street.


End file.
